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Sheep-Eating Plant Blooms In UK (And Our Nightmares)

A sheep-eating plant is set to bloom in the UK for the first time in nearly two decades, as The Inquisitr reported earlier, and the horrifying name is actually mild for how the aggressive vegetation behaves.

In our previous report on the sheep-eating plant, we detailed how the Puya chilensis of Chile is set to bloom in the UK soon, and remain that way for about a week.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, the sheep-eating plant at the National Botanic Garden of Wales has not bloomed once in the past 15 years — so the circumstance is, lucky for sheep, pretty rare.

The sheep-eating plants can reach a height of 12 feet, and a width of about five — they’re hardy enough to survive a frost, too.

But the Puya’s razor-like lower spikes are what prompted the scary name — and the sheep-eating plant is believed to have an even more unsettling Darwinian nature.

Unlike a Venus Flytrap, the sheep-eating plants don’t actually chomp their believed prey. Instead, sheep are snared by the spikes and left to slowly and painfully die in their trap, before decomposing and slowly feeding the nightmare evergreens by becoming fertilizer.

While this would be the slowest plot for a horror film, you have to admit there’s something a bit Saw-like about the sheep-eating plant and its dangers.

Horticulturalist Cara Smith was one of the people excited about the sheep-eating plant’s deadly bloom this week:

“I’m really pleased that we’ve finally coaxed our Puya chilensis into flower. We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic. It’s growing … well out of reach of both children and sheep.”

In a news release by the RHS, Smith actually encourages going to see this horrifying devil bush in person and adds:

“It’s well worth a visit but parents coming along with small children don’t need to worry about the plant devouring their little ones. It’s growing in the arid section of our Glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike.”

The sheep-eating plant, in addition to its deadly spikes and extended torture induced method of finding food, also emits a “gruesome scent.”